Nexxus Scotland

Connolly, Trish

Professor of Bioengineering; Director of Strathclyde Institute of Medical Devices (SIMD), University of Strathclyde; CEO of Ohmedics Ltd

A highly-respected figure in Scotland's bioengineering community, Professor Trish Connolly has worked across Europe in industry and academia researching medical devices for point of care testing. Her work took her to Italy and Switzerland before she resettled in her native Glasgow where she is recognised as a leading light in diagnostics in the West of Scotland.

A graduate in electrical and electronic engineering, Professor Connolly redirected her career path towards bioengineering after completing her PhD, which involved looking jointly at cell biology and electronics.

Her first professional role was at the University of Glasgow, where she started a new bioelectronics research group and introduced a new final year course for bioengineering.

While working on bio-sensors and cell micro-devices at the University, Professor Connolly was headhunted by Byk Gulden (now part of Altana Pharma) to head up their research facility in Milan, again operating in diagnostics. In 1997, after five years with them, she moved directly to Nycomed Amersham in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she was in charge of industrialisation of research and development.

Professor Connolly moved back to Scotland in April 1999, where she took up a position as Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Strathclyde and has since been at the forefront of efforts to develop innovative medical devices.

She is Director of Strathclyde Institute of Medical Devices (SIMD) which was launched in October 2006 in response to the recognition that effective innovation in medicine and healthcare technology is required to address the world's healthcare problems in the 21st Century. In 2009 she also became CEO of Ohmedics, a spin out of the University of Strathclyde to commercialise a pioneering wound moisture monitor bringing better wound management to patients.  Since the end of 2010 she has been involved in a further initiative launched by the University and SIMD - Strathclyde MedTech - a means of assisting Scottish SMEs in the medical technology field, or in its supply chain, or those interested in entering this field from other industries such as electronics, optoelectronics, wellness, textiles, plastics, automotive component companies etc.

Professor Connelly's extensive experience in bioengineering, both at industrial and academic level, gives her the advantage of being able to see projects through from research and development to full commercialisation.

Her focus has mainly been on medical diagnostics, and in recent years her research has focused on point of care instrumentation and tests including minimally invasive monitoring systems.

One of the most exciting pieces of bioengineering research currently being worked on by her team is non-invasive diagnostics; specifically a pioneering technique for monitoring glucose and lactate levels useful in a variety of care situations, including monitoring of patients during surgery and in intensive care.

The technology works on a similar basis to an electrocardiogram (ECG), passing an electric current through two gels pads placed on the skin. Any molecule which is electrically charged is drawn through the skin by the electro-osmotic effect of the pads. The benefits are twofold: fast, point of care results allowing parameters to be monitored easily, and removal of the glucose and lactose molecules without ever breaking the skin.

Professor Connolly says: "Molecules of a very low weight - up to 500 Daltons - can pass through the skin onto these positively and negatively charged pads. They can pass through the pores and hair follicles or through the cells and the top dry layer of skin.  Lactate has a negative charge and so would end up on the positive pad, while glucose has a positive charge and would be drawn to the negative pad. It's very often useful to know the behaviour of glucose and lactose in patients as they essentially give a snapshot of how the body's metabolism is functioning and we envisage this technology will really make a huge difference to how these parameters are monitored. In 2010 we completed a study of Diabetic Patients under Proof of Concept Funding from Scottish Enterprise and in collaboration with Mr Chris Sainsbury at Gartnavel hospital. The results of the study indicate that close tracking of glucose and transdermal calibration of blood parameters may be realised through our approach and we are carrying this work forward in a new multi-sensor, iontophoresis system currently being tested at the University."

In addition, her team has taken one laboratory project through to spin out, a disposable moisture sensor for use in wound dressings. "Wound management for both chronic and acute wounds is a very high cost part of healthcare," she continued. "It is less obvious than many other healthcare needs because often the patients are isolated at home. Better wound diagnostics at point of care will transform many wound management protocols and there are a number of groups working on technology and devices for this sector. We have produced the first moisture sensor in the world that can be left in a wound dressing and interrogated for clinical information. The carer or clinician can make decisions about dressing changes without disturbing the dressing, leading to reduced opportunities for infection, saving time and lowering costs."

The system, WoundSense^TM, is now available in the EU and Middle East from Ohmedics Ltd, the University spin out company formed to commercialise the device. Other sensors for pH and bacteria monitoring in wounds are in development.

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